January 2013

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-17 06:02 GMT Nowotny’s comments boost the euro The member of the ECB governing council Ewald Nowotny declared at the Euromoney press conference in Austria on Wednesday that the Eurozone is bound to contract in 2013 and that growth would return in 2014. Nowotny warned that economic activity would decrease this year, […]

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-16 06:09 GMT Fitch warns it might cut US rating Much to the chagrin of investors, a fresh warning from the ratings agency Fitch was issues, stating that a debt ceiling failure would likely cause a ratings review. “…With no legal authorization for net debt issuance, the Treasury would be forced to

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-15 06:23 GMT Bernanke provides no signs of QE expiration; raising debt ceiling crucial Ben Bernanke is giving a speech at the University of Michigan, with the talk centered on two big issues. One is the long run sustainability of the US debt, while the other is the fragile recovery. Fed’s Bernanke

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-14 06:11 GMT Focus on Bernanke speech; revenge of the doves? With the European debt crisis temporarily buried underground, and the US debt ceiling still too many weeks far down the road to become a pressing issue, most of the weekend headlines were stolen by Japan and its quest to set a

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-11 06:25 GMT Cautious economic optimism induces ECB to hold rates The ECB Governing Council unanimously decided to maintain the main interest rate at 0.75% at their first monetary policy meeting of 2013. ECB head Mario Draghi revealed a more positive outlook on the European crisis during the press conference following the

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-09 05:40 GMT Eurozone crisis still far from over Eurozone unemployment reached a record high of 11.8% in November, the European Commission reported on Tuesday. Data also showed an increase in youth unemployment to 24.4%. This proves that the crisis in the area is still far from over, despite recent opinions to

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-08 03:00 GMT Japan to buy ESM bonds to stabilize the yen The big story in the Asian session is the announcement by Japan of its commitment to purchase ESM bonds to help stabilize Europe, Japan Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters. The decision-maker added that Japan will buy European ESM bonds

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-07 06:06 GMT ECB, BOE in Prime Focus this Week With the Fiscal Cliff behind us and the impending debt ceiling debate at least another month away, market focus will return to plain economic fundamentals next week. The sentiment is being bolstered by two central bank announcements – the ECB (January 10th,

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-04 05:03 GMT Two largest rating agencies consider US fiscal cliff deal insufficient Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s credit rating agencies urged US lawmakers on Thursday to increase their efforts to tackle the country’s budget deficit, as they consider the last-minute fiscal cliff measures insufficient. The deal which was struck on Tuesday

MARKET OVERVIEW   2013-01-03 05:55 GMT Congress Passes Fiscal Cliff Deal – The Breakdown In a final hour maneuver, Congressional leaders brokered a deal that will allow the US economy to avert the Fiscal Cliff and alleviate pressure on the financial markets. The passage is being considered by some to be a victory for US